Statement of Chapel ImportanceIn chapel we gather, as a covenant community of faith, to worship God. Through the act of worship we, the body of Christ, find ourselves encouraged, equipped, energized and empowered by the Spirit of God for acts of loving service in the world. Chapel leads us to discover and explore authentic avenues by which we glorify God.

Attendance PolicyAs members of a Christian college community that values both academic and spiritual development, students are expected to participate in the spiritual development of the campus and, specifically, to meet the chapel requirements as one demonstration of fidelity to institutional values. It is unacceptable that a student leader would not fulfill the chapel requirements and maintain their leadership role. Similarly, it is expected that all students (who voluntarily come to ENC) will support this requirement. Thus, in keeping with a holistic approach to this covenant community, students who do not meet the community standards for chapel attendance will be sanctioned a fine assessed by the Office of Student Life.

Each student must attend twenty (20) chapels each semester.

There are 26 total chapels for the semester through which you can meet your chapel requirement, and on occasion other special services may be held where extra chapel credit may be received.

(Note: these will be prorated, for semesters with fewer or greater numbers of chapels. Students will be notified of the specific numeric requirements during the first week of each semester by the Office of Spiritual Development. This notification will be both in chapel and via the ENC website.)

It is the student’s responsibility to keep track of their chapel attendance, as they will be held accountable for all excessive absences. Tracking of Chapel attendance may be done online through the student's myenc account.

Chapel ExemptionsIt is the student’s responsibility to treat chapel as any other required class. Therefore, work, etc. is to be scheduled around the chapel hour. Further exemptions are granted for Upper-class students (60 credits and above) for the following reasons only:

Commuter students with evening or Tuesday / Thursday classes only MUST file a chapel exemption petition to be considered for participation in the "Covenant Plan" program.

Commuter students who have MWF classes after 12:00 p.m. MUST file a chapel exemption petition to be considered for participation in the "Covenant Plan" program.

Exemptions: A full chapel exemption may be granted to students in unique circumstances. If a request is approved, the student will need to submit a "Covenant Plan," which is a spiritual growth strategy rooted in covenant community. Key elements of the "Covenant Plan" are: a statement of intentionality, a proposed plan for spiritual growth and a means of accountability. The "Covenant Plan" must be submitted by the established deadline stated in the exemption approval letter issued each semester once an exemption has been approved. Students who are granted an exemption yet fail to return the "Covenant Plan" and meet with their Spiritual Mentor will be fined the maximum Chapel fine of $3oo.00.

Chapel Exemption Submission DeadlineChapel Exemption submission deadline to the Office of Student Life is the date the Registrar has posted as the last day to Add/Drop classes. Please make your request by this time.

Levels of AccountabilityPersons exempted from chapel will choose, or be assigned, a Spiritual Mentor within the ENC Faculty & Staff to be accountable to during the semester of exemption. Students attending fewer than 20 chapels per semester will be sanctioned a $15 fine per miss following the allotted six misses.

Falsification of InformationFalsification of information is a serious offense and will be treated and looked upon as such.

Students who are dishonest when filing a petition will be subjected to a $200.00 fine.

Students submitting ID cards to be scanned for others not in attendance will be subjected to a $25.00 fine for each participating party, and will not receive credit for the chapel in question.